A fugitive wanted over an armed robbery while on the run has been captured by police.

Convict Robert Sharp had managed to evade capture while receiving treatment as a hospital patient.

Medics at the hospital in London had no idea the man they were treating was a convict suspected of a violent attack on a teenage girl at a charity shop in Bognor, a police spokeswoman said.

It is understood Sharp, a Scot who absconded from Ford Open Prison on August 1 before allegedly committing the robbery six days later, was watching a BBC Crimewatch appeal from his hospital bed when his case was featured on the programme.

It is believed he then quietly slipped out of the ward, but returned the next day when the pains he was suffering became too much. He was arrested a short time later and remains under police guard on the ward.

Sharp is wanted for questioning over the knife-point attack on the 19-year-old woman at the charity shop in Bognor, where he worked as an assistant as part of a Prison Service scheme.

The victim was forced to the back of the shop then tied up before cash was stolen. She escaped unharmed from the ordeal and raised the alarm.

A description of the offender matched Sharp's.

He was expected to undergo an operation for an undisclosed condition before being interviewed by police.